The New York Rangers need more offensively from Artemi Panarin, their leading scorer in each of his first six seasons on Broadway.
But they need him to be better on the other side of the puck, as well. Coach Mike Sullivan made that perfectly clear Thursday following the Rangers’ 6-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche, the best team in the NHL through the first quarter of the season
“I’ve had a lot of conversations with Artemi throughout the course of the season,” he said postgame. “We don’t expect him to be the best defensive player out there, but everyone’s required to play defense – and that’s the conversation that we have.